1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to dispensers for extruding the contents of flexible walled tubes, and more specifically to an improved roll up tube dispenser having a shell housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flexible dispensing containers provide advantages over other forms of product packaging, because such tubes are relatively clean and manually squeezable to controllably expel small amounts of the stored product outwardly through an orifice or nozzle. These tubes also provide a convenient means for expelling contents having significant viscosity.
These collapsible containers are generally formed by an integral, flexible wall configured on one end with a conventional outlet and cap. The opposite end of the tube is generally left unsealed to form a wide opening to be filled with a paste-like product and closed.
The contents of such a tube are then generally ejected at the time of use by removing the cap and then manually squeezing the tube walls. This method generally results in a random movement of the stored contents. The movement of the contents is in response to the compression of the tube walls caused by the squeezing. While a relatively full tube may be easily manipulated to orderly expel the paste product, as the tube approaches empty, manipulation of the flexible walls thereof may only serve to manipulate the remaining product back and forth in the tube itself. Efforts to squeeze the final remnants of the product often results in the user locating a flat edged apparatus to forcefully flatten the tube from the rear end towards the tube nozzle, thereby urging the contents in one direction only, and ultimately out of the tube.
Another common approach is to roll up the tube by hand starting at the closed end to force the contents from the substantially emptied portion toward the dispensing end of the tube. This may provide a temporarily satisfactory result but because the tube unwinds when the manipulating forces are removed, the process has to be repeated each time. This drawback is amplified as the length of the tube increases and is especially prevalent in tubes biased to retain a straightened configuration, such as those constructed from plastics.
Additionally, the consumer, faced with the difficulty of dispensing the final remnants of product from a relatively empty tube, often disposes of the tube with such remnants left therein. Premature disposal of consumer product packaging not only results in undue waste but is believed to contribute greatly to the rapid filling of available landfills. Collapsible tubes in particular, often contain a measurable percentage of the original product when disposed. Use of the typically wasted product by consumers would thus have a substantial impact on the environment through conservation of available landfill space by reducing the number ofprematurely disposed collapsible tubes.
One alternative proposed to dispense the contents of a collapsible walled tube involves attaching a narrow elongated rod, commonly called a key, to the crimped end of a conventional metallic tube. Examples of these devices can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 955,530 to Morrison; U.S. Pat. No. 1,770,946 to Rostiser; U.S. Pat. No. 1,986,409 to Redmer; U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,773 to Gonzalez; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,670 to Kendrick. While devices of this nature aid in rolling up the tube they do not prevent unwinding of the tube, particularly tubes made from plastics.
Other devices proposed to deal with these problems provide a means for enabling consumers to incrementally control the flow of material from a tube and enable the use of substantially all of the available contents. These rotatable reel type dispensers generally include a housing having a slot for receiving a portion of the tube and internally dimensioned to accommodate a reeling assembly containing a slot for insertion of one end of the tube. The reel is turned by some means such as a wheel and the tube is drawn through the housing slot which forces the contents toward the dispensing end and ultimately out of the tube. These devices typically rely on friction between the housing and the tube or the inherent flexibility of the tube to prevent the tube from unwinding. Plastic tubes, in particular, however, typically have great resiliency and tend to unwind unless secured in place. Therefore, reliance solely on frictional forces between the housing and the tube may not provide satisfactory results.
Other devices have been proposed to reel the tube and resist unwinding. Examples of these devices can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,314 to Elias et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,828 to Wood; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,457 to applicant. While applicant's invention shown in his U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,457 has enjoyed success, manufacturers sensitive to both the environment and their customers' preference for a collapsible tube prohibited from unwinding, continue to search for devices facilitating the assembly of a dispenser constructed to allow incremental flow of the material while resisting unreeling of the tube.
Due to the widespread use of collapsible tubes and problems inherent in preventing the tubes from unwinding, manufacturers prefer to permanently mount the dispenser on the collapsible walled tube and sell the combined unit as a package to offer convenience to their customers. This provides consumers with a pre-assembled package in a ready to use condition. Mass assembly of these dispensers is generally discouraged, however, due to the problems faced when initially mounting the reel to the tube. Typically, a length of the tube is inserted into a reel shaft and the reel is wound several times to satisfactorily secure the tube to the reel in a manner as to prevent the tube from being pulled off the reel. This winding process adds additional time to the assembly process and discourages mass assembly of dispenser.
The initial assembly of the tube to the reel adds assembly time in another manner. Assembly of these pre-assembled packages is generally accomplished in one of two manners. One method is to attach the tube to the reel and then the tube-reel assembly is inserted into a housing with an open ended slot thereby completing the assembly. Typically, the closed end of the tube must be precisely aligned with the narrow retainer opening in the reel. The second manner of assembly is to attach the reel to the housing and then insert the tube into a slot in the housing and then into the reel. This method requires even more precision than the first one because the reel and housing openings must be aligned. U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,987 to applicant provides an indicator that has proven successful in addressing the alignment problem but manufacturers faced with assembling an incremental dispenser constantly search for dispensers capable of saving the time and cost associated with assembling the tube and the dispenser in permanent fashion. It was this apparatus to which my application U.S. Ser. No. 09/246,681 filed Feb. 8, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,994, was directed.
As noted in my prior application, there are advantages to providing a number of ways for assembling such a device to reduce manufacturing time and the apparatus of my prior application addresses several different means of assembly. In some cases, however, the manufacturer or assembler prefers to use a housing that can be separated or opened up to a significant width allowing easier placement of the reel and tube end within the housing prior to final assembly of the housing. Thus, there remains a need for alternative means for assembling a roll up tube dispenser that is tailored to specific manufacturing needs. It is that alternate assembly to which this application is directed.